He smiled softly, "it's only been five years of practice and training. But I haven't really been doing much to further myself. Well... Other than having gotten to the point that I'm usually unaware of my water ability giving away my thoughts without my notice if I'm not careful... If you ever see an orb of water randomly float up to my shoulder where I can't see it, it's cause I'm not paying attention to it and its telling you what I'm thinking." He felt like he didn't need to worry much about telling her that, even though he was befuddled by how he felt every time she smiled at him. " but, don't tell anyone because it gets pretty embarrassing for me sometimes if anyone notices and thinks I'm not controlling it."

The way he said it, made it look like five years was actually only five days. "Well Captain, you've obviously been rather busy with other things that you don't really have time to practice and better that gift." Tanya answered softly as she looked at her hands carefully and nodded. "Do not worry Captain, you're secret is safe with me." she assured, mostly because she'd forget about it in a few days possibly. Shaking her head, she smiled. "You shouldn't be embarrassed Captain, no one should judge you in any way." she added softly with a smile. "Now then, I think I'm calm enough to try at the pillows once again." she added confidently.

Skye nodded. "Alright. Same thing as before, only, grab the largest pillow without looking at it. Remember to be aware of your surroundings and do not be afraid or have any uncertain emotion." He relaxed and watched Tanya, reading her face for her emotions. He closed his eyes and sent a few water droplets into the crate that was away from the pillows, simply playing with the water to get his mind off of his lingering feelings that had confused him.

Tanya nodded and closed her eyes. Working on clearing her mind, Tanya took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she tried to picture her surroundings without opening her eyes. Tanya knew that the captain was somewhere in the room with her, so she knew she had to be careful. Sure they were pillows but she still had to focus as much as possible if she wanted to do this the correct way. Grab the largest pillow but don't look at it. she told herself mentally and nodded before picturing the pile of pillows in her head. Carefully, Tanya focused on the mental image of the pillow pile and reached over and lifted the largest pillow into the air for a few seconds before letting it drop to the ground. It was tiring work since she hadn't actually used her gift in such a long time purposely, it was always accidental. Opening her eyes, she sighed softly and looked at the pillow on the floor before looking at the Captain. "How did I do Captain?" she asked softly.

Skye smiled softly. " great. I'm impressed. When I tried that it took me a few times to do it that well." He grabbed a few pillows, pulled some water over them and changed the color of the water to be a murky brown. He shuffled the pillows around, and pulled one out of the small group while keeping it covered and the rest of the pillows covered. "Describe the pillow under the water here." He instructed, going with something a little easier, feeling that his praises would distract Tanya, while hoping they didn't. The spare water on the floor had created an orb that started to hover by Skye's right ear. It changed colors rapidly, reflecting the turmoil in Skye's mind and emotions.

"Th-thank-you Captain." she answered nervously and watched his actions closely before looking away and listening to his words. Looking back at the water covered pillow, Tanya frowned slightly and nodded. "Describe it?" she repeated and forced a smile onto her face, "Very well then...I'll try." she answered and stared at the water. Occasionally she would glance over at the orb by his ear which was rapidly changing colors, causing her eyes to burn slightly. Focus on the water covered pillow....describe it...do it NOW she told herself mentally. "It's light...soft." she started and frowned as she tried to focus. "It's...small maybe?" she guessed and furrowed her brow, "It's filled with..cotton? No wait...f-feathers? No...no because it's light so it has to be filled with cotton and must be a small pillow?" she guessed and looked over at Skye. Tanya was sure that she had messed up somehow...and knew that he'd probably get upset, but she tried.

Skye was patient, as his mentor was. "Good, dont guess. now... What color is it? What other details can you tell me about it?" He asked, watching Tanya. He knew that the details he was asking would be extremely difficult if not almost impossible for her to tell him if she hadn't intentionally been using her gift before that day. He knew though, that she would need to be completely aware of her surroundings if she were to adequately learn to control her abilities. The pillow he had hidden was a light green, and was, indeed, small and filled with cotton, but it also had tassels and fringe on it's edges and corners.

Tanya stared at him and pouted before nodding. "The color?" she repeated and closed her eyes as she tried to focus. "The color is...green!" she stated and stood still. "It's green...fancy as well. It has some sort of decoration or decorations. I can't really pinpoint exactly what it is or they are." she informed and frowned. So she couldn't guess, that made it a lot harder...but she was going to do her best to improve. Tanya didn't detect anything else thought that she could tell him, no matter how hard she tried to focus on her surroundings. What color green was it? "It's...almost pale in color. It's a pale green..." she stopped and became a bit frustrated with herself. "It's light green..." she said softly.

"Good. What about the shape? Could you tell me about that? And there is a small design, you are correct." He smiled softly, deciding that this was a better task than the one before. Eventually he would integrate them together, but for now, he decided that it would tax her enough As it was. He decided that once she told him the shape, he would allow her to go start on lunch, and after she finished lunch, she could rest or make herself some clothes if she so pleased before making dinner. He decided that he would give her some space if she wanted it so she could relax better, however, he was going to ask arashi to ask her if there was anything she needed or wanted to do while on the ship.

"The shape...." she repeated and nodded as she tried to focus. "The pillow is a rectangle...no wait, a square. It's a squared shape." she answered. At first she had thought it was round, but round things had no corners, so she knew that it had to be a square. "it's a very lovely pillow Captain." she commented softly and was happy to hear him tell her that she was right about the design. 'So I must be getting better...' she thought to herself. Even so, she didn't want to get cocky. Tanya wanted to always do her best during these practice sessions. "Captain, I still have a lot to learn don't I?" she asked softly. She knew that as soon as this was over, she'd need to go get started on lunch. Tanya didn't want the entire crew to starve, they needed to eat enough before going back to work. In the back of her mind, she wondered where this ship was going and what that place would look like.

Skye nodded, "yes. You do. Tomorrow, I'm going to have you work on knowing your surroundings. But for now, you did well." He let his water drop from around the pillows and handed her the small pillow. It was indeed square, but it also had tassels and fringe around the corners, and the design on the fabric was a wispy flowery embroidered design. "Lunch needs to be cooked. After lunch, you can make yourself some clothes if you want, rival will do dishes if you want him to. He's not too terribly busy during the few hours that surround lunch time." He dismissed her and cleaned up the room a bit.

Tanya listened carefully while examining the small pillow closely and carefully. "Yes...I'll be sure to have lunch ready right away for you all." Tanya explained and left the room in silence as she walked towards the kitchen. "What should I make for lunch?" she asked herself and started looking through the things they had, wondering what the men would like. They would obviously want to eat some sort of meaty meal right? "How about a hearty beef stew with veggies?" she said to herself and smiled as she started to clean the vegetables she would need and set a pot of water to boil. Tanya thought about what the captain had said to her and was slightly nervous that she wouldn't 'do a good job but she still had to try. "Sooner or later you'll learn." she said to herself as she continued to cook.

Arashi wandered into the kitchen and rubbed against Tanya's leg. "The men have started to gather their clothes with holes in them and when you are ready to start the sewing you can let Skye know so he can ask the first man for his clothes for you so you're not overwhelmed by everyone's clothes that need mended, also, when you are ready, he also prepared a room for you with some extra fabric for you so you can make some clothes for yourself until we reach our next port." he jumped up onto the counter and stole a small piece of raw meat from her pile.

Rivar entered the room and smiled sheepishly at Tanya, " The captain said to check and see if you need any help."

Tanya smiled when she saw that Arashi had arrived. "Really now?" she started and nodded. "Well I owe him my thanks for this you know, and I'll be ready to mend clothing right after dinner." she explained and began to season the meat carefully. Her attention was averted though when Rivar showed up. "If you could chop up the vegetables and put them in the pot of water with some salt, that would be great." she explained softly. That sheepish smile on his face was rather adorable really and she had to wonder if she made him nervous for some reason. Shaking the thought from her mind, Tanya continued working on the beef and poured it into the pot of water and started to stir it easily, adding some pepper to the beef to add some flavor.

Rivar nodded and went to the sink to wash the vegetables and his hands. When he was done he grabbed a knife and started cutting the veggies into small pieces. as he finished each one he added the chunks into the pot of water and added salt when he was completely finished. He was careful not to add too much. He then grabbed the dishes he had washed and went to set the table with the silverware and the glasses. When he returned he asked, "Is there anything else you would like help with?" He spoke softly.

Tanya was impressed by how quickly Rivar seemed to get things done. She was about to ask him to set the table but noticed that he had already done that without having to be told to do it. "Well I see you already set the table. You could help me serve the food if you'd like." Tanya suggested as she checked on the stew, making sure it tasted perfect. "I just hope that the men like this." she said to herself quietly as she stirred the stew in the pot, loving the smells that came from it.

"Sure thing. I don't have anything else to do for the time being." he smiled softly and paused a moment before asking sheepishly, "How old are you, Tanya?"

Arashi looked at Rivar with his head tilted; it wasn't very often that the boy asked such a direct question. If he could avoid it, especially with women, he wouldn't say anything. Arashi knew that it was because the boy was shy and that he wasn't accustomed to being around them, and he just didn't care much for the men on the ship because they were frankly rather ill mannered.

"I appreciate it." Tanya said and smiled in appreciation as she turned off the stove when the stew was ready. "Alright, time to serve the food. We can't keep the men waiting can we?" she reminded and was surprised to hear his question. It was surprising really since she didn't think he was much of a talker and yet here he was, asking her a direct question. "Well if you must know, I'm nineteen years of age." Tanya replied and raised an eyebrow. "How about yourself?" Tanya asked and chuckled. "I'm going to take a guess. You're probably what...sixteen years of age?" she guessed and shrugged. "I'm only guessing that because you don't look much older than me really." she explained and hoped she didn't offend him if she had guessed wrong. "I apologize in advance if I've offended you." she said quickly, a from on her face now.

Rivar smiled, "not offended, But i'm actually 18. I get told i look young a lot though. I mean, it's a little better when i'm not clean shaved, but i don;t like facial hair. It gets itchy." He smiled again as he picked up the big pot of stew. "Ready when you are. Smells great, by the way."

Arashi stared at Rivar as he spoke while thinking to himself, "What's gotten into him? He never talks this much unless it's to skye. So strange..."

"Ahh you're eighteen? That's a good age." Tanya commented softly with a nod of her head before laughing softly at his comment on facial hair. "I agree with you on that facial hair comment. I don't know how men can stand it. It looks very itchy and uncomfortable really." she agreed and gently pat his shoulder. "Thank-you. I hope it tastes as good as it smells, and I hope you and the other men like it." she said and walked with him out to the set table. "Alright, let's start serving the food since I'm sure everyone is quite hungry." Tanya explained easily.

Rivar nodded and smiled, following Tanya into the dining area, where all of the set places were waiting. He set the stew pot down on a bench and went to fetch a ladle for serving. When he returned he asked, "do you want me to get bread and butter from the cargo hold to go with this?"

Arashi, who had followed rivar back into the dining area when he had gone to get the ladle, looked at rivar with a look of curiosity. "Not to be rude, but why are you so talkative ll of a sudden? It's not like you."

Rivar blushed, and mumbled something about it being because Tanya was easy to talk to and had good manners before turning away and looking at the stew while he awaited Tanya's decision on the bread and butter.

Tanya nodded, "Oh yes please, if it's not too much trouble. Thank-you Rivar." She answered politely and smiled at him then looked back at the table and made sure everything was perfect before taking the Ladle. "I'll start serving the food while you get the bread and butter. I wonder if we should get them something to drink as well actually." Tanya commented as she started filling the bowls with the beef stew. Tanya hoped that the men liked the meal, making them food was always difficult because she never knew what they would like, perhaps she would have to ask them to make a list of foods that they liked that way she could get an idea of what would be good to make for them.

Rivar smiled at her and ducked out of the room to go get the bread and butter. Arashi jumped onto the bench next to the stew pot and looked at Tanya, tilting his head cutely. "What are you wondering about? And give them lemon water. Have rivar get it when he returns." He looked like he was smiling coyly at that.

Tanya looked up when she heard a voice and noticed it was Arashi. "Oh hello Arashi. I'm just thinking about future meal plans. I'm thinking that perhaps I should have the men write down the things they enjoy eating, that way I can have a better idea of what meals to make for them." Tanya replied softly and nodded, "Thanks for the suggestion, I will be sure to tell him when he gets back. I'll help with the glasses." she added with a smile.

"The men like food. The only thing you have to worry about is how it's cooked. For example, their steaks. There are 15 people on this ship other than you and myself. 3 of them like their steaks medium rare to medium, 8 like them medium to medium well, and the rest like them well done. If you ever make steak, i'll remind you how many to make of what and give you a suggestion on serving them. Until then, you really only have to worry about ways to incorporate citrus and fruits into at least one meal a day." Arashi watched Tanya as Rivar returned, carrying a cuttingboard of sliced bread and two small jars of butter.

"Anything else?" Rivar said, smiling softly. "the stew does smell really good, by the way, the other guys can smell it on deck and they ask when lunch will be ready. I told them soon and they'll know when."